Artificial intelligence inside Microsoft 365 is moving fast. Organizations are no longer satisfied with general AI assistants that answer broad questions. They now want AI that understands their own data and works inside their daily tools. This is where SharePoint Agents come in.
SharePoint Agents bring AI directly to your documents, libraries, and sites. Instead of guessing, the agent answers based on real business content. This creates more trust, better accuracy, and real productivity gains.
🎥 Watch the Session
Before diving deeper, you can watch the full session that explains SharePoint Agents with live demos and real scenarios:
The video shows how agents are created, how they behave, and how governance works in real environments.
A Simple Way to Understand the Difference
Think of Microsoft Copilot as a librarian who knows a little about every book in the world. It is helpful for general questions and daily work.
A SharePoint Agent is different. It is like a researcher who only studies your company files. It may not know everything, but it knows your policies, documents, and data extremely well. That focus makes it more accurate and reliable.
Copilot vs SharePoint Agents
Although they sound similar, Copilot and SharePoint Agents serve different purposes.
Microsoft Copilot
- Acts as a personal assistant
- Helps with emails, documents, meetings, and general tasks
- Uses broad knowledge and context
SharePoint Agents
- Are grounded in specific data
- Can be limited to one document, a folder, or a site
- Give precise answers with references
- Reduce AI hallucination because the scope is controlled
This focused design is what makes SharePoint Agents powerful for business use.
A Big Update: Copilot Memory
Microsoft recently announced that Copilot will gain memory capabilities. This means it can remember user preferences and identity over time.
With memory, Copilot can:
- Suggest personalized actions
- Help with recurring tasks
- Perform multi step scenarios like booking or searching offers
This update adds more value to the Copilot license and explains why many organizations are investing in it.
Creating Your First SharePoint Agent
Creating a SharePoint Agent does not require coding and takes only a few minutes.
The basic steps are simple:
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Select the data
Choose a document, a folder, or a document library in SharePoint.
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Create the agent
Click on “Create an agent” directly from the SharePoint interface.
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Customize the agent
Set the name, logo, and description so users know what the agent is for.
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Guide the users
Add a welcome message and starter prompts to help employees ask the right questions.
Behind the scenes, the agent is stored as a JSON file in the document library. This also means agents can be created programmatically from external systems if needed.
Real Business Use Cases
The session showed several strong examples of how SharePoint Agents can be used.
Employee Handbook Agent
Instead of reading a long policy document, employees can ask questions like:
- What types of contracts are available?
- What is the smoking policy?
- What is the code of conduct?
The agent answers clearly and shows references from the original document.
Resume and CV Checker
Recruiters can ask the agent to scan multiple CVs and identify:
- Candidates who speak specific languages
- People with certain technical skills
The agent summarizes the data but does not make hiring decisions.
Responsible AI in Action
During the demo, the agent refused to choose a candidate for a job. This is intentional.
Responsible AI rules prevent agents from:
- Making final human decisions
- Acting in biased or unsafe ways
The agent supports humans by summarizing and comparing data, not replacing judgment.
Governance, Permissions, and Sharing
SharePoint Agents are built with enterprise security in mind.
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Permissions
Agents respect existing SharePoint permissions and sensitivity labels. If a user cannot access a document, the agent will not use it.
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Approval process
Site owners can approve an agent and move it to Site Assets so it becomes visible to all site visitors.
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Collaboration
Agents can be shared directly in Microsoft Teams chats so teams can use them together.
Licensing and Cost
There are two main pricing models.
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Copilot license
A fixed cost of $30 per user per month.
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Pay As You Go
Around $0.001 per message.
Important warning:
One user question may be processed as many internal messages. In some cases, a single question can cost around $0.03. Organizations should monitor usage carefully.
Current Limitations to Know
SharePoint Agents are powerful, but still evolving.
- Maximum of 20 sources per agent
- Best performance with documents around 15 to 20 pages
- Supported formats include Office files, PDFs, and Loop
- Image and meeting recording support is coming later
- Cloud only, no support for SharePoint Server on premise
Final Thoughts
SharePoint Agents represent a major step forward in practical AI for the workplace. They bring intelligence closer to real data, reduce risk, and help employees find answers faster.
Instead of asking AI to know everything, SharePoint Agents focus on knowing the right things. That focus is what makes them valuable.
🌍 Continuing the Journey
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